The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has said that the privately owned Skyward Pinehills airstrip, located about 8.5 kilometres southeast of Nadi International Airport, has not been registered and has never been used for any aircraft operations.
In a statement, the Ministry said the airstrip was constructed in 2019 for private recreational aviation.
During its planning and development, the owners consulted the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji and Fiji Airports regarding aviation safety and airspace considerations.
Due to its close proximity to Nadi International Airport, airspace concerns were raised, leading to a technical assessment.
This resulted in conditional approval in January 2020 for limited daytime use, subject to strict requirements, including formal registration by CAAF.
The Ministry said those registration requirements were not completed, and progress was later disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the airstrip has remained non-operational since construction.
“The site remains closed to aircraft operations unless and until all registration requirements are fully met and approval is granted by CAAF,” the Ministry said.
It added that there is no aviation safety risk associated with the airstrip in its current state, as it has not been used and remains under regulatory oversight.
The Ministry reaffirmed that all civil aviation regulatory processes are in place and said any future use of the airstrip would be subject to full compliance with national regulations and international aviation safety standards.
